Hunters have one more day to apply for alligator permits

Mississippi residents will get another chance to apply for the 2012 public alligator hunt.

A special one-day extension to apply for the 2012 public alligator hunt has been set for Monday by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, due to a website glitch on the final day of the original application period.

Mississippi residents over the age of 16 can apply on Monday, June 25, from 10 a.m. to midnight by visiting mdwfp.com. Each applicant is allowed to apply in as many of the six zones as desired, but is limited to only one entry per zone. The fee is $10 per zone.

“We had website technical difficulties,” said alligator program coordinator Ricky Flynt. “We received some calls from people who said they had tried to get in to our site but couldn’t on that Friday. It went down intermittently during the day and then crashed at 6:30 that night.”

The only way to apply was, and remains, online.

Flynt said 3,503 individuals had successfully completed the application process during the June 1-June 15 period, and “those people are not affected. We are getting calls from people thinking the need to reapply but that is not the case. The only people affected are those who were unable to get into the system.”

There are 810 permits available, including 150 each in three zones along the Mississippi River, two south Mississippi zones extending from I-20 to the Gulf Coast and divided by U.S. Highway 49. The other 60 permits are available on Ross Barnett Reservoir.

Flynt said all six zones have enough applicants to fill all available permits.

“Of the 3,503 applicants, they are averaging two zones per person,” Flynt said, meaning there are over 7,000 entries.

He said the electronic drawing and notification process of successful applicants, which would have been completed this week, has been pushed back until at least June 27.

“It will be at least during the day Wednesday before we begin sending e-mails to those who were successful,” Flynt said.

About Bobby Cleveland 1343 Articles
Bobby Cleveland has covered sports in Mississippi for over 40 years. A native of Hattiesburg and graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, Cleveland lives on Ross Barnett Reservoir near Jackson with his wife Pam.

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